Daily Digest - June 18, 2026

Happy Birthday to: Joel Bernheim of Asset Recovery Solutions.

Congratulations for starting new positions: David Bucciarelli as Associate Vice President, Organizational Development at ConServe.

New AI Event!

I am thrilled to announce a new live conference I am hosting. It’s an AI conference for the credit and collection industry. It will be held in Denver this September. Check out getbrainstorming.com for more information. And watch the video below to see me showcasing my outdoor skills.

If you are interested in being a speaker at the event, click here.

Getting to Know Niel Welborn of Todd, Bremer & Lawson

• Getting into the credit and collection industry may not have been as easy as finishing off an alley-oop for Niel Welborn, but thanks to a well-time assist, Niel has made this industry his home for nearly 40 years. It was during his career as a basketball player and athletics administrator that he learned the valuable lesson that hard work can beat talent if talent doesn’t work hard. Read on to learn more about Niel, where he goes to solve all of the world’s problems every morning, and why March is still a special time of the year.

• More details here.

• This series is sponsored by TEC Services Group

A MESSAGE FROM TCN

TODAY’S WEBINAR

UPCOMING WEBINARS

State Appeals Court Won’t Open Default Judgment for Consumer

• A Pennsylvania state Appeals Court has affirmed the denial of a consumer’s petition to open a default judgment entered in a debt buyer’s collection lawsuit, ruling that the defenses he offered were too generic to justify reopening the case.

• More details here.

New Vermont Privacy Law Sets a Low Coverage Bar and a First-Ever AI Disclosure Rule

• Vermont has become the latest state to enact a consumer privacy law, and several of its provisions will land squarely on companies that handle large volumes of consumer data.

• More details here.

Auto Lender Can’t Escape FCRA Claim Over Totaled Car

• A District Court judge in Oregon has allowed a consumer’s Fair Credit Reporting Act claim against an auto lender to move forward while dismissing all of the claims against the company that administered her vehicle’s GAP and service contracts.

• More details here.

Consumers Are Using AI More and Trusting It Less

• For an industry pouring resources into artificial intelligence, the latest data on how consumers actually feel about the technology may give collection executives some pause. A new Pew Research Center survey finds that Americans are adopting AI tools at record rates while growing more skeptical of where the technology is headed.

• More details here.

New House Bill Would Regulate BNPL Loans as Credit Cards

• A new bill in the House of Representatives would fold buy now, pay later loans into the same federal framework that governs credit cards, a shift that could reshape how the products are disclosed, serviced, and collected.

• More details here.

Judge Sends FDCPA Dispute-Letter Fight to Jury

• A Magistrate Court judge in Pennsylvania has denied competing summary judgment motions in a consumer’s Fair Debt Collection Practices Act lawsuit, ruling that a jury must decide what the consumer’s dispute letter actually covered.

• More details here

WORTH NOTING: The skinny on whether subscription cancellation apps are worth it or not ... State Farm is making a lot of changes to how its agents are compensated ... More encouraging signs that consumers are bullish on their financial situations ... A digital clock made out of analog clocks ... Why you may want to think twice before trying to completely cut sugar out of your diet ... If you are looking to sell your home, here are the paint colors to lean into and avoid ... A look at the type of work that AI can't do ... Where you can get the cheapest pizza across the United States.

Top 10 Thursday, part I

Top 10 Thursday, Part II

Webinar Recap: Analyzing and Responding to CFPB Complaints

The webinar underscored the CFPB complaints database as both a compliance requirement and a valuable operational intelligence tool. Panelists agreed that complaints—whether legitimate or frivolous—must be addressed, as ignoring them can be treated as a compliance management system (CMS) failure and create long-term regulatory and reputational risks.

Speakers highlighted that metadata in the CFPB database is often inaccurate, while consumer narratives provide clearer insights into systemic issues, communication breakdowns, and operational defects. Complaint volumes continue to rise, driven by genuine consumer friction, automated bots, and misinformation from social media influencers promoting illegal “credit repair hacks.” AI and natural language processing are increasingly used to distinguish real grievances from coached disputes and to identify trends across portfolios.

Panelists emphasized that complaints should not be treated as administrative tasks but as opportunities to improve operations, strengthen client relationships, and reduce regulatory exposure.

🧠 Key Takeaways:

• Respond to all complaints: As Mark Cavin noted, “Ignoring a CFPB complaint, if you would, could be treated as a supervised entity failure, not a customer service lapse too.” Non-response can trigger supervisory scrutiny and UDAP risks.

• Focus on narratives, not metadata: Metadata fields are often wrong; analyzing consumer language reveals the true issues. Cristina Musacchio stressed that complaints should be used to “learn and improve,” not just to check a box.

• Leverage AI and cross-team collaboration: Use NLP tools to detect trends and share insights across compliance and operations. Abby Hogan advised linking responses to CFPB resources to counter misinformation and build credibility with consumers.

Key Point: CFPB complaints are more than regulatory obligations—they are strategic signals. By analyzing narratives, applying AI, and integrating insights across teams, organizations can proactively reduce risk, improve consumer trust, and strengthen operational resilience.

Did you know you can get full access to all of my past webinars, along with transcripts and summaries of each, for only $29/month? Sign up to be a premium subscriber today!

The Daily Digest is sponsored by TCN